The President's Daily Brief - PDB Afternoon Bulletin | May 23rd, 2024: Trouble Brews In The South China Sea & Debate Intensifies Over American Weapons In Ukraine

Episode Date: May 23, 2024

In this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin:    Tensions are once again flaring in the South China Sea, as Beijing’s military encircled Taiwan for massive war exercises on Thursday, prompting Taiwan to scrambled jets and put their own military on high alert. The White House is reportedly considering a major shift in their Ukraine policy that would allow Kyiv to use American-made weapons on targets inside Russia. To listen to the show ad-free, become a premium member of The President’s Daily Brief by visiting PDBPremium.com. Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin.  Email: [e-mail] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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I'm Mike Baker. Your eyes and ears on the world stage. Let's get briefed. First, we'll examine China's ongoing intimidation campaign against Taiwan, as Xi Jinping's Chinese Communist Party unleashes their military around the island democracy for massive war games. Also, the White House is reportedly considering a major shift in their Ukraine policy that would allow Kiev to use American-made weapons on targets inside Russia. But first, our afternoon spotlight. Tensions are once again flaring in the South China seas.

well, frankly, in recent times, do they ever not flare, as Beijing's military encircled Taiwan for massive war exercises on Thursday, prompting Taiwan to scramble jets and put their own military on high alert. Chinese naval vessels and military aircraft began flooding the area on Thursday to kick off two days of military drills, which come just days after a new president took office in Taiwan. The drills represent a further escalation of China's ongoing intimidation. campaign against the island democracy, as they seek to establish dominance in the region. Officials in Beijing also claimed the exercises were punishment against separatist forces seeking

independence, and that's according to a report from Barons. China called the drills a powerful punishment and a, quote, serious warning to external forces for interference and provocation, end quote. Well, you do have to admire the CCP's complete lack of self-awareness when it comes to the topics of interference and provocation. The exercises are taking place in the Taiwan Strait and to the north, south, and east of the island, and that, of course, pretty much covers the entire compass. China's Coast Guard is also reportedly carrying out drills near the Taiwanese-controlled island groups of Kinmen and Matsu, which lie just off the coast of China. In a propaganda push ahead of the exercises, China put out a series of posters bragging about their militaries, quote,

cross-straight lethality, which featured photos of rockets and jets next to blood-stained text. The CCP, after all, is known for their poster art. As the drills were kicking off, China's foreign ministry also put out a charged statement, vowing that, quote, Taiwan independence forces will be left with their heads broken and blood flowing after colliding against the great trend of China achieving complete unification, end quote. All right, look, I'm not. I know that China's chemical companies are busy churning out precursor chemicals for fentanyl, but maybe retool one of those production lines for Xanax

and start handing that out to the overly aggressive folks there at the Foreign Ministry. An alarm Taiwan responded by scrambling jets and putting their missile, naval, and land units on high alert. In a statement, Taiwan's defense ministry said China's, quote, irrational provocation has jeopardized regional peace and stability. Now, while he did not address the drug, drills directly, Taiwan President Lai Ching-day, who was inaugurated on Monday, pledged on Thursday to, quote, stand on the front line to defend Taiwan from those seeking to undermine its sovereign rights. Ever since its election earlier this year, China has consistently tried to brand President Lai

as a dangerous separatist who would lead the country into war against the mainland. CCP officials were apparently particularly miffed, uh, nothing worse than a miffed CCP official, about his inauguration speech on Monday, during which he hailed a, quote, glorious era for Taiwan's democracy and called on Beijing to end their campaign of intimidation, according to a CBS news report. Lai has pledged to neither yield nor provoke mainland China. But it sounds like he may have failed in the provoke category. Officials in the U.S., meanwhile, said that while the international community must condemn China's ongoing provocations, the drills are no great surprise.

particularly given lies inauguration on Monday. As a reminder, the Biden administration has regularly reaffirmed America's longstanding commitment to the one China policy, which asserts that there is only one sovereign state under the name China, which includes both mainland China and Taiwan. Having said that, the U.S. continues to serve as Taiwan's main military backer, and President Biden has previously stated, he would support sending American troops to defend the island if they come under attack. Thursday's drills are the largest military exercises that China has held in the waters since last August when they deployed a similarly large force after Lai visited the U.S. while serving as vice president. As we've regularly covered on the PDB, China has stepped up their

harassment of Taiwan over the past few months, increasing the number of military ships and aircraft that they sent to the waters near the island democracy for drills. Observers say the military exercises, which are now taking place on a near daily basis, are meant to test Taiwan's defenses and simulate a potential invasion. As a programming note, we'll be looking into various China-related topics during this weekend's upcoming PDB Situation Report. Mark it on your calendars, and don't forget to tell your friends and family. Now, the Situation Report is an extended video version of the weekday PDB and afternoon bulletin. It's available on all podcast platforms, and in living color with moving pictures on the first TV,

as well as our YouTube channel at President's Daily Brief. Coming up after the break, it appears the White House is mulling a major shift in their Ukraine policy, potentially allowing the use of U.S.-made weapons against targets inside Russia. I'll be right back. Not loving your AT&T or T Mobile Bill? Yeah, we've been hearing that a lot. Good news.

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like superheroes and sidekicks or auto and home insurance. With USAA, you can bundle your. auto and home and save up to 10%. Tap the banner to learn more and get a quote at usaa.com slash bundle. Restrictions apply. Welcome back to the afternoon bulletin. Ever since the first U.S. weapons began arriving in Ukraine back in 2022, they've come with one major string attached. American weapons can't be used to strike inside Russian territory. Now, according to a new report in the New York Times, there's now a major debate inside the administration over potentially relaxing that ban to the Ukrainians to hit missile and artillery launch sites just over the border in Russia.

The Times reports that the proposal is being spearheaded by U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken following his recent visit to Kyiv. Officials involved in the deliberations revealed that Secretary Blinken's stance shifted due to the Russians opening a new front in the war with significant impact. Russian forces have positioned weapons just across the border from northeastern Ukraine and are targeting Kharkiv. The Ukrainians in response are limited to using non-American drones and other weaponry. The proposal is currently in its early stages, and it remains uncertain how many members of President Biden's inner circle supported. Oh, look at that. He's got an inner circle. According to officials, the proposal has not yet been formally presented to President Biden, who's known for his cautious

approach to the conflict. The debate comes as Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson appeared to endorse the idea. When asked by a reporter whether Ukraine should be allowed to strike targets on Russian territory using U.S. weapons, Johnson said, quote, I think we need to allow Ukraine to prosecute the war in the way they see fit. They need to be able to fight back and I think that us trying to micromanage the effort is not good policy for us. And quote, well, you could say the same thing about Israel, I suppose, but I digress. As we reported earlier this week, leaders in Kiev have become increasingly desperate in their pleas to the U.S. to allow them to use American weapons for offensive strikes inside Russian territory. On Monday, a delegation of five Ukrainian

members of Parliament traveled to Washington to make their case in meetings with the Biden administration and with congressional officials. One Ukrainian official reportedly called the restrictions on the use of weapons, quote, insane. Now, it's worth noting that Russia is already accusing Ukraine of using U.S. and French supplied weapons in attacks on the border region of Belgarod. This past weekend, Russia's Ministry of Defense reported that they shot down four French-made hammer missiles and two U.S. made harm anti-radar missiles. They went on to say that Western nations were, quote, playing with fire by authorizing their use on Russian soil.

The White House, well, they called that report Russian propaganda. And that, my friends, is the PDB afternoon bulletin for Thursday, 23 May. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at PDB at thefirsttv.com. And if you want to listen to the show ad-free, be sure to check out our premium membership at PDBPremium.com. I'm Mike Baker, and I'll be back tomorrow. Until then, stay informed. Stay safe. Stay cool.